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Without McCoy, who transferred to Texas after he was enrolled in classes for less than three weeks, USC does not have a five-star in the fold for its recruiting class for the first time since 2000, when recruiting services began ranking the top high school players.,Over more recent years, the Trojans have faced more difficulty reeling in five-star talent, largely the prospects from outside California, at times leaving them over-reliant on top players from their own backyard.,The Trojans finished 5-7 last year, their first losing season since 2000, prompting calls from fans for Helton to be fired following his third full season before the embattled coach was retained by Athletic Director Lynn Swann.,But even in the initial seasons under Helton, while the Trojans made consecutive New Year’s Six bowl games, they were unable to pluck five-star recruits from other regions of the country and poach prospects from other blue-blood schools that have had a better recent track record of producing NFL draft picks, especially among offensive linemen.,Gorney and other analysts reasoned that the Trojans have had enough talent in recent seasons to contend for Pac-12 championships, and they won the conference crown in their second season under Helton in 2017.

Sam Ficken has appeared in five games with the Rams over the last two seasons.,He has appeared in four regular-season games over the past two seasons — with the Rams as an injury replacement for Greg Zuerlein, and in Los Angeles’ playoff loss last season to Atlanta.,Ficken was cut by the Rams on Oct. 3 — a few days before Los Angeles played at Seattle, a game in which Cairo Santos kicked for the Rams — making him an immediate free agent and available to be signed now.,Ficken was cut after missing a 28-yard field goal late in the Rams’ eventual 38-31 win, after which coach Sean McVay said, according to the Los Angeles Times, “When we get a chance to go up 13 in a game that’s been back and forth, those are plays that we have to be able to make, and make them consistently.”,Seattle is likely to bring in another kicker for competition as it did last season when Seattle signed Jason Myers in January and then signed Janikowski in April.

Already in are NFC division winners Dallas (East), New Orleans (South), Chicago (North) and the Los Angeles Rams (West).,AFC divisions clinched belong to New England in the East and, well, nobody else.,New England, the only unbeaten team at home this year, would get the first seed with a victory and losses by the Chiefs and Chargers.,If the Texans fall at home to Jacksonville, the winner of the Colts at Titans game in Tennessee takes the AFC South, and the Texans become a wild card, joining either the Chiefs or Chargers.,The AFC division often looked at as the toughest has been the North, which, not surprisingly, has come down to Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh.

Already in are NFC division winners Dallas (East), New Orleans (South), Chicago (North) and the Los Angeles Rams (West).,AFC divisions clinched belong to New England in the East and, well, nobody else.,New England, the only unbeaten team at home this year, would get the first seed with a victory and losses by the Chiefs and Chargers.,If the Texans fall at home to Jacksonville, the winner of the Colts at Titans game in Tennessee takes the AFC South, and the Texans become a wild card, joining either the Chiefs or Chargers.,The AFC division often looked at as the toughest has been the North, which, not surprisingly, has come down to Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh.

For those who do not know, the Scouting Combine is an event held in Indianapolis every February where around 330 college players are invited to not only fill out an athletic profile by recording physical measurements and participating in a myriad of tests such as the 40 yard dash, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, 20-yard shuttle, 3 cone drill, and 60-yard shuttle, but also participate in interviews with specific teams, take a drug test, and receive an injury evaluation.,While watching film, and seeing how a player actually, you know, plays football, will always be the number one thing teams consider when scouting a player, athletic testing has become a more important piece of the overall puzzle.,While NFL organizations don’t use these exact websites, the majority understand the growing importance of picking not only great football players, but talented football players who are uber athletic.,A perfect way to think about athletic testing is this: not all great athletes become great football players, but it’s extremely rare to see a great football player that wasn’t a great athlete in some capacity.,In the piece, former NFL scout Dana Hatman said this about Tennessee’s head exec:

“You listen to [Titans GM] Jon Robinson, I genuinely believe that he gives a crap about football character, and he will pass on a player that might be slightly better in a tier to take a guy who’s going to be a better professional football player.”read more

Engaging in sports can teach a person about themselves and many lessons that last a lifetime, according to Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University, who was a wrestler and javelin thrower while a student at Iowa State.,Crow said that ASU tries to provide as many athletic opportunities as possible for its students — at every level.,ASU and adidas have formed a partnership that has led to the Global Sport Institute and other initiatives.,Using Athletics as a Research Lab Featuring adidas," at the ASU + GSV Summit 2018 in San Diego on April 18, 2018.,King was joined by ASU President Michael Crow; sportswriter Karen Crouse with the New York Times; and moderator Andrés Martinez, a Cronkite professor of practice.